(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a vacuum system, especially to a vacuum system of the type used in homes. The invention particularly relates to a ceiling mounted vacuum housing for storing a vacuum hose when not in use including a mechanism for lowering the housing from the ceiling for providing access to maintainable parts, and a hose drive mechanism for deploying the hose from the housing.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Vacuum systems are comprised of a suction assembly that includes a motorized suction fan and a dust collector, and an elongated hose extending from the suction assembly. The hose, which is cylindrical and flexible, normally terminates in a handle at its distal end to which accessories may be attached. In certain embodiments, known as portable vacuum cleaners, the suction assembly is wheeled so that the operator can pull it from place to place. In order to avoid the difficulty and inconvenience of moving the suction assembly, central vacuum systems have been developed.
Generally, these central vacuum systems are comprised of a permanently located suction assembly, at least one vacuum hose outlet located near the cleaning area, and a conduit connecting the assembly to the outlet. A flexible hose having a connection end and a distal end is releasibly attached at its connection end to the outlet when the surrounding area is to be vacuumed. Electrical wiring normally extends from the suction assembly to the outlet and connects with other wiring extending through the hose to a control means in a handle at the distal end of the hose, completing an electrical circuit.
Central vacuum systems have gained wide popularity and acceptance, particularly in homes. However one continuing annoyance is the need to store the vacuum hose when the system is not being used. Often, the problem is addressed by simply stuffing the hose into an area such as a coat closet; such solutions are either inconvenient or unsightly.
Various means have been suggested by the prior art to address this problem. For example, the following patents describe central vacuum systems in which the hose is inserted into the conduit joining the suction assembly and the outlet when the hose is not in use:
The following patents describe devices including a powered mechanism to store the hose:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,641,790 to Coult discloses a vacuum hair removal system for barbershops in which a vacuum hose storage body is mounted to the ceiling of a barbershop. An access section forming a nozzle hangs down from the hose storage body. A spring returns the hose to the storage body whenever the hose is not in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,615 to Fletcher discloses a central vacuum system having a flexible hose extending from a vacuum unit into an attic space in a structure. The flexible hose passes into a living space of the structure through a ceiling orifice. A motorized retractor mechanism located near the ceiling orifice delivers the hose to the attic space for storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,297 to Hukuba et al describes a vacuum cleaner comprised of a cabinet having a suction assembly housed in a first compartment and a second compartment for housing a retractable hose. A motorized drive mechanism comprised of a pair of interlocked rollers on opposite sides of the hose is used to extend and retract the hose from the compartment.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,977,037 to Miyake et al discloses a similar structure in which a vacuum hose along with a suction assembly is housed in a piece of furniture. The hose is withdrawn from and retracted into, the piece of furniture by a drive roll engaging the surface of the hose. The drive roll is covered by a cylindrically shaped elastic layer that is axially splined to provide a series of radially inwardly recessed grooves spaced at intervals equal to the spacing of adjacent convolutions on spiral ribs of the hose.
The inventor of the present invention has two patents pertaining to vacuum systems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,581 to Harrelson discloses a vacuum system mountable between adjacent studs of a wall inside a residential home for vacuum cleaning the living areas of the home. U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,582 to Harrelson discloses a vacuum hose storage system that includes a hose drive mechanism for retracting and extending a vacuum hose to and from a hose storage compartment.
While certain of the above systems provide some improvement over merely dumping the hose in a closet or other area when not in use, one problem still has not been addressed in an economical and practical manner. Certain areas within a home or building are not easily cleaned with prior art vacuum systems.
A good example of such an area is a residential garage. The typical garage is a very cluttered place. It usually shelters one or two cars along with lawnmowers and other yard tools such as rakes and shovels. Beyond this floor space clutter, there is usually clutter against the walls of the garage. For example, it is not unusual to find hot water heaters, storage cabinets, workbenches and other items stacked alongside the walls. Such clutter makes using a central vacuum cleaner or portable wheeled vacuum cleaner unwieldy and impractical. The problem lies in the fact that the prior art vacuum systems are designed to clean uncluttered living spaces and these systems either have relatively long vacuum hoses that would tend to snag on clutter or these systems have shorter hoses and are portable wheeled systems that are impractical to maneuver in a cluttered environment such as a garage. What is needed is a vacuum system that is easy to install, easy to access, easy to maintain and functional in a highly cluttered environment such as a garage. Unfortunately, the previous patented inventions belonging to the present inventor also fail to meet this need alone or in combination with the prior art for much the same reasons including the added difficulty of accessing a wall mounted system that would naturally become blocked by car bodies, and the other mentioned clutter. A self-contained vacuum system that overcomes the above problems would be of considerable advantage and convenience to the homeowner.
The present invention is directed to a self-contained vacuum system that overcomes problems associated with vacuum cleaner operation in a cluttered environment by providing overhead access to the system. In particular, the vacuum system of the present invention includes a housing that can be mounted to the ceiling of a building, such as the ceiling of a residential garage, and a positioning means for lowering the housing of the vacuum system to within reach of the user. Also provided is a reversible drive mechanism for withdrawing a hose from, and returning a hose to the housing. The vacuum system includes a suction assembly, and a flexible vacuum hose. The suction assembly comprised of a motorized suction fan, a filter, and a dust collector, may be one of several types commercially available, and need not be described in detail. The hose is also of a commercially available construction, and is essentially a flexible tube that may be reinforced with a wire spiral about its outer surface. Electrical wiring may also extend through the hose from one end to the other, so that the vacuum system electrical circuitry can include an array of switches on the handle or nozzle at the distal end of the hose.
The housing of the present invention is an enclosure with an interior cavity. For example, the housing could be of cubical configuration, with spaced vertical sidewalls, a rear joining the sidewalls, a top wall, a bottom wall, rear wall and a front wall. Sections of the walls may be hinged to form one or more access doors into the housing.
The housing is preferably divided into a forward compartment and a rearward compartment by a divider wall extending across the inside of the housing between the sidewalls connecting the top and bottom walls. Attachment points are positioned on the outside of the storage compartment either along the sidewalls or alternately along the top wall such that the vacuum system can be mounted to hooks or brackets fastened to the ceiling of a structure. In the preferred embodiment, a motorized pulley system connects the vacuum system housing to hooks or brackets fastened to the ceiling of a structure. The motorized pulley system of this configuration allows the entire vacuum system to be lowered on command of an electrical switch situated on the handle or nozzle connected to the distal end of the vacuum hose. The handle and distal end of the vacuum hose hang external the housing to within reach of the user.
Alternately, with another embodiment the front of the housing is permanently mounted to ceiling of a structure by way of a hinge and only the rearward compartment of the vacuum system housing a replaceable filter bag, accessories and other user maintainable parts is accessible in the lowered position. A motorized pulley system raises and lowers the housing upon command of a switch located on the handle or nozzle on the distal end of the vacuum hose.
As noted above, the housing preferably includes a forward compartment and a rearward compartment, with the compartments being separated by a divider wall. In this configuration the forward compartment houses the retracted vacuum hose. The distal end of the vacuum hose along with the handle or nozzle hangs downwardly from the forward compartment through an orifice that leads external the forward storage compartment.
The rearward compartment houses a suction device also referred to as the vacuum source. An orifice through the divider wall connecting the forward and rearward compartments allows the proximal end of the vacuum hose to connect to the suction device.
The rearward compartment also houses a debris collector used to collect the dirt, dust and debris xe2x80x9cvacuumed upxe2x80x9d by the vacuum system. Typically the debris collector is a user maintainable canister or replaceable filter bag that needs to be dumped and/or replaced periodically by the user. As a result, access to the debris collector is achieved by lowering the vacuum system to a lowered position that is a predetermined distance below the ceiling of the building, putting a debris collector access door within reach of the user. Optionally, the vacuum system may house tools and other vacuum accessories such as upholstery nozzles, edge nozzles and the like that are accessible with the housing in the lowered position.
The housing also includes a powered, hose drive assembly to withdraw a hose from the hose storage compartment, and to return the hose to the compartment after use. Preferably the assembly is contained within a hose storage compartment.
In one embodiment of the ceiling mounted vacuum system a positioning means for raising and lowering the housing comprises a plurality of pulleys, preferably one for each outside corner of the housing. Generally, each pulley is fixed to an attachment point near each corner. The face of each pulley is substantially in a plane with the sidewalls of the housing. At least one suspension cable for each pulley drops perpendicular from hooks mounted into the ceiling of a structure. Preferably, all of the suspension cables are of equal length and the lower end of each cable is fastened to an attachment point located on the spool of its corresponding pulley.
Each motorized pulley shares substantially matched electrical and mechanical characteristics and are electrically wired and switched to start and stop in unison. The motorized pulley""s matched physical properties combined with equal suspension cable lengths and unified start and stop functions allows the housing to be lowered and raised level with respect to roll and pitch. Whenever access to the user maintainable parts within the housing is desired, the user can reach up, grasp the downwardly hanging hose and handle and depress a switch on the handle that energizes the motorized pulleys to unwind cable thereby lowering the entire housing. Once within reach, the user may access the maintainable parts by way of access doors or hatches that are typically hinged within the walls of the housing. After the desired maintenance has been completed, the user can raise the housing back to its normal position flush with the ceiling by selecting and depressing a switch on the handle associated with lifting the housing. As soon as the top wall of the housing comes in contact with the ceiling, a current limiting protection circuit will sense the increase in load current going to the motorized pulleys and will automatically interrupt the current stopping all motorized pulleys in unison.
Another embodiment of the ceiling mounted vacuum system is available if the ceiling to which the system is mounted is low enough. Lowering the housing""s rearward end while leaving the front end fixed, allows access to the rearward compartment of the housing. A hinge along the top edge of the front wall of the housing connects the forward end of the housing to the ceiling. Only one motorized pulley is needed with this hinged embodiment of the invention. Preferably, the single motorized pulley is fixed to an attachment point located near the sidewall corner of the heaviest weighted side of the rearward compartment. A single hook is fastened into the ceiling nearly directly above the spool of the motorized pulley. At least one suspension cable is fastened to the hook and drops substantially perpendicular from the ceiling. The lower end of the cable is attached to the spool of the motorized pulley. When the motorized pulley is energized the hose housing rotates about the longitudinal axis of the hinge that attaches the top edge of the front wall of the housing to the ceiling.
If for example, the user finds it necessary to change the filter bag of the vacuum system and the housing is in its normal stored position, raised flush against the ceiling, the user grasps the downwardly hanging handle and energizes the motorized pulley by depressing a switch on the vacuum hose handle activating the unwinding of suspension cable, rotating the housing downward. Once the rearward compartment of the housing has been lowered to within reach, a normally closed limit switch located on a sidewall near the hinge opens interrupting current to the circuit powering the downward rotation of the housing. From this lowered position, the user manually opens a filter bag access door hinged within a wall of the rearward compartment and replaces the filter bag in the normal manner. Next, the access door is closed and the housing is returned to the stored position by closing a switch on the vacuum handle energizing the motorized pulley to rotate opposite the previous direction winding cable back onto the pulley leading to the upward rotation of the housing. A normally closed limit switch fixed to the top of the rear wall of the housing opens interrupting current powering the motorized pulley once the housing is flush with the ceiling.
Yet another embodiment mounts the vacuum system within the ceiling of a building. In this embodiment the bottom surface of the housing is in a plane flush with the ceiling. For example, the vacuum system could be mounted in the ceiling of a hallway, similar to an attic stairs. One end of the vacuum system housing is attached to the ceiling by a hinge. The system could include a spring mechanism similar to an attic stairs to facilitate manual positioning of the system in either a lowered position or raised position. Otherwise, the positioning mechanism described in the previous embodiment could be employed. However, in this embodiment a wall switch or hand held remote control is used to activate the positioning mechanism. All embodiments of the present invention have a hose drive mechanism for extending and retracting the vacuum hose but because the vacuum hose is completely retracted into the housing or ceiling with this embodiment, a wall switch or hand held remote is provided for activating the hose drive mechanism.
The hose drive mechanism is necessary for retracting and extending the vacuum hose to and from the housing. An example of such a mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,582 to Harrelson, which is incorporated herein by reference. The reference describes a hose drive assembly comprised of first and second opposed hose driver rollers supported on parallel shafts with the peripheries of the roller facing each other at a predetermined distance, which is slightly less than the diameter of the hose to be manipulated, so that the roller faces snugly engage the hose surface. The periphery of each roller is concave in configuration. For example, the surface may be in the shape of an arc of a circle corresponding to the outer circumference of the hose. Together, the roll faces defining a hose-receiving nip.
In order to improve the grip on the hose, the roller may further include hose gripping projections extending from said concave faces. These projections extend radially outward and transversely across said concave faces, and may be integrally formed of the same material as the roll. For example, the entire roll may be formed of rubber or a flexible plastic material.
The drive assembly also includes a drive means for reversibly rotating the roller in opposite directions to draw the hose through the roll nip in the direction desired. The drive means may be comprised of a power source, normally an electric motor, and gears connecting the drive means to the roller. Importantly, both rollers are connected to the drive means, instead of one roller merely being an idler roll, since it has been found that gripping of the hose on the opposite side by a powered roller is necessary to achieve the force necessary to manipulate the hose.
In order to drive both rollers, each drive roller may comprise a gear having a central shaft opening and gear teeth about its periphery. A cylindrical annular shoulder may extend outwardly from one side of the gear, so that an annular hose-engaging member can be secured around the shoulder. This annular hose-engaging member can be formed with a concave face of the configuration described above to engage the hose. The gear will be formed of a rigid material, e.g., metal, and the hose-engaging member may be formed of a flexible material.
Power from an electric motor is transferred to the drive roller through one or more transmission gears connecting the motor shaft to the roller. For example, a worm gear can be positioned between the worm gear and one of the drive roll gears. The gear teeth of one drive roll gear can then mesh with the gear teeth of the other drive roll gear, so that power is transferred to both rollers. Since the roll gears are interconnected and since the rollers have the same diameter, the roll faces will turn at the same surface speed.
Several optional features can be included in the above drive assembly. For example, a pivotal mount can be used to support one to the drive roller, so that the roll can be pivoted from its hose engaging position to a hose release position in the event of a malfunction. A mount release lever can be used to normally hold the roll in the hose engaging position. Also, the electrical circuitry can include a switch to open the circuit when torque on the motor exceeds a predetermined value, e.g. when the hose becomes jammed. An embodiment of an inexpensive torque release switch actuated by a moveable motor is illustrated in the description of the preferred embodiment.
Hose guides are also provided with each guide having a hose receiving orifice or channel. The orifices lie in spaced parallel planes, and are axially aligned, so that a pathway is defined along the axis of the orifices. The nip of the rollers is also axially aligned along this pathway, so that a hose is carried in a straight line through the guides and nip.